Adrian Peterson, last year's top vote-getter in the NFL Network Top 100 list, fell all the way to fourth this year—possibly because he didn't duplicate his 2,000-yard, MVP-worthy season of 2012. His peers, however, gushed about him just as much.

"He should be in the top 100 every year,'' said the Chiefs' Jamaal Charles, the No. 8 player in the poll and third among running backs, behind the Vikings' Peterson and the Eagles' LeSean McCoy. "He is his team; his team cannot move without him.''

Peterson managed 1,266 yards in an injury-riddled season in which the Vikings went 5-10-1 and changed coaches in the offseason. Dipping by more than 800 yards from the year before didn't mean he dipped much in the eyes of his peers, though.